REVIEWS COLUMNS Xi MTower PCIe Workstation: CAD Manager: Slice Through the Hype of CAD on the Cloud Top CAD Performance at a Competitive Price Circles and Lines: Make the Most of the New AutoCAD UI CadTempo 5.2: Automatically Track and Chart Work Time User Profile: Inside the Mind of Curt Moreno, Kung Fu Drafter Spring 2012 | Vol. 29 No. 2 | $9.99 Get Productive with CAD and Get the Job Done. www.cadalyst.com CAD at Your Fingertips Handheld Devices Are Making It Easy to Access and Share Data from Virtually Any Location Tech Trends BIM vs. GIS: Which Is Best for Facilities Management? Dell recommends Windows® 7 Professional. Render at the speed of creativity. Graphic design simulation for Dell Precision™ workstations with Intel® Xeon® Processor. Dell Precision™ workstations provide high speed and maximum power for demanding applications and users. Creating your best designs takes time and eff ort. Visualizing them shouldn’t. Dell empowers your imagination and creativity with our highest-performing, most scalable desktop and mobile workstations to quickly bring even your most complex designs to life. Ŕ $PVOUPOGBTUBOESFMJBCMFQFSGPSNBODF, using top-of-the-line Intel® Xeon® processor family Ŕ %PNPSFJOMFTTUJNFwith high-end multi-core processors and up to 192GB of RAM Ŕ (FUMJHIUOJOHGBTUSFOEFSJOHin 2D and 3D with professional graphics Ŕ .BYJNJ[FZPVSVQUJNFwith optional Dell ProSupport™* for 24/7 access to advanced technicians who serve as your single point of contact for hardware and software issues At the end of the day, nothing is more powerful than a great idea. And nothing brings it to life like a Dell Precision™ workstation. Power Up Call 1-866-510-3355 or visit dell.com/smb/power *Availability and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visit dell.com/servicedescriptions Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Spring 2012 www.cadalyst.com 16 12 26 30 36 AutoCAD WS at work on the job site on a Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet. Image courtesy of Autodesk. Cover art direction: Gwen Thomsen Rhoads features columns 12 techtrends By Heather Livingston 32 cadmanager By Robert Green BIM vs. GIS No More Cloudy Days When it comes to facilities management, which Slice through the hype, learn about cloud tools and how technology provides the information you need in they can support your users, and find practical ways to the way you need it — building information modeling determine whether CAD on the cloud makes sense for or a geographic information system? The answer your company. might be: both. 36 circlesandlines By Lynn Allen 16 cadalystlabsreport By Heather Livingston Don’t Be Shy — Try Out the New UI! CAD at Your Fingertips From the Command line and ribbons to new click- Handheld devices and a rapidly expanding selection throughs, the updated user interface offers a variety of of apps are usurping laptops by providing access to data time-saving ways to get AutoCAD to do what you want in virtually any location. We take a look at how the it to do. technology is changing the way CAD professionals access, update, and share data. 38 userprofile By Nancy Spurling Johnson Kung Fu Drafter Curt Moreno has been drafting since he was 14 years old. Today he’s a CAD manager and popular blogger with cadalystlabsreviews a passion for preserving his craft. 26 firstlook By Art Liddle Xi MTower PCIe Workstation Beefy desktop machine delivers top CAD performance at a competitive price. departments 4 editor’swindow 7 cadcartoon 30 firstlook By R.K. McSwain 7 cadcentral 10 hottipharry CadTempo 5.2 Automatically track and chart time spent using popular CAD applications, Microsoft Office, and more. Spring 2012 cadalyst www.cadalyst.com 3 editor’swindow Going Mobile ur cover story on mobile CAD performance; 3Dconnexion with another (“CAD at Your Fingertips,” 3D navigation device for professional p. 16) cites a report on cloud users, the SpaceMouse Pro; and compa- O trends by research firm IDC nies such as Riverbed and Aryaka that that predicts that 46% of all professionals continue to base their networking solu- will be mobile-only by 2014. That statistic tions on the reality that CAD users create shocks me! Can you imagine nearly half huge files that must physically move from of your peers abandoning the desktop one office to another, rather than sit on computing environment? the cloud. Upon further reflection, it becomes These companies, and dozens of their clear that although there’s a significant competitors, would not be investing in movement toward mobile CAD, it’s not these developments if CAD were poised likely that this statistic will hold true for to go all-mobile anytime soon. CAD-using professionals. CAD users are Don’t get me wrong: I’m not discount- a highly productive bunch, and achieving ing the mobile CAD movement. As our Will most that level of productivity likely requires cover story explains, it is going strong. At planting yourself in a chair in front of least 100 CAD-related mobile apps are of us be a desktop setup that includes complex already on the market — we managed software; a powerful and comfortable to squeeze about 75 of them into the list workplace hardware configuration; a fast, reliable we compiled for you (see p. 22) — and Internet connection; and a place to set I’d gamble that the number will double nomads by your coffee. or even triple by this time next year. Each You probably won’t be going all- new development in this arena gives 2014? mobile in the next couple of years CAD users another reason to opt for the because the complicated tasks that com- convenience of mobile computing. But pose your job — drafting, 3D modeling, for the future I foresee, mobile CAD will rendering, analysis — require software evolve to supplement desktop CAD, not that doesn’t exist in a mobile app, and replace it. likely won’t for some time. Even if such What are your thoughts about apps were to be developed or if that mobile vs. desktop computing for CAD- software became available on the cloud, related work? What are you doing now, could you be productive using it with a and what do you see in your future? 10” display and your fingertip as your Join Cadalyst on Facebook or post to input device? No. our group on LinkedIn and get the Hardware developers know this about discussion started! the CAD user, which is why, despite the buzz around cloud technologies and Nancy Spurling Johnson mobile computing, heavy hitters are still Editor-in-Chief, Cadalyst bringing ever-more-powerful technology [email protected] to market that targets the CAD user who sits at a desk: Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge processors for desktop workstations; HP with its brand-new all-in-one workstation (see p. 7), as well as BOXX and @Xi with their latest powerhouse desktop work- stations (one of those is reviewed on p. 26); NVIDIA’s new Maximus technology, which radically ramps up workstation 4 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst Spring 2012 THE HOT ROD BABY BUGGY IS ROAD READY PROJECT 3 OF LET’S GO DESIGN In this interactive web series, SolidWorks brings together CAD fanatics from around the world to collaborate on innovative design projects. With their help, our host Jeremy Luchini successfully designed the fi rst hardcore baby buggy for dads. Watch its development from design to build - and how SolidWorks was used to bring ideas, comments and your votes to life at LetsGoDesign.tv Cadalyst is printed on demand, resulting in less stress on our environment through reduced paper volume 29 no. 2 use, printing, and shipping. Cadalyst (ISSN 0820-5450) and the logo appearing on the cover are registered trademarks of Longitude Media, LLC. Printed in the USA. Cadalyst doesn’t verify claims or other information appear- www.cadalyst.com ing in advertisements in the publication and cannot take any responsibility for losses or other damages incurred by read- ers in reliance on such content. Customer Service Contact us at customerservice@ Publisher P.O. Box 832 longitudemedia.com. 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